Coccidia Treatment Cats Ponazuril

While albon sulfadimethoxine is the only fda approved drug the recommended dosing schedule is to administer it for 5 21 days which can be costly both monetarily and in staff time.

Coccidia treatment cats ponazuril. The paste can be diluted and used orally in dogs and cats for control of coccidia. Anecdotally this drug has been used off label successfully for treatment of coccidia at a dose of 15 30 mg kg. Ponazuril is a drug which is used to treat protozoal and coccidial infections in dogs and cats. I have never had a problem with it myself nor has anyone else in our group had a problem with it either that anyone in the group knows of.

It is thought that 5 of all cats acquire coccidiosis at some point in their lives. A recent study by lister et al found the use of oral ponazuril at 50 mg kg once daily for 3 consecutivedays for the treatment of coccidiosis in dogs and cats to be effective. Whilst there is no licensed treatment for coccidiosis in cats effective medications are available. Ponazuril actually kills the coccidia which makes for a faster response to treatment and shorter course of therapy.

We do recommend ponazuril as the preferred treatment of coccidia in kittens in a shelter. Our rescue group uses ponazuril to treat coccidia and i do myself in fact i just treated a crew of 15 today adults and kittens. The problem for dogs and cats is that ponazuril is manufactured for horses and comes in paste that is impractical for small animal use. Ponazuril has been used as a coccidia treatment in horses for a long time and its use also off label in cats and dogs has been documented since at least 2006.

This medication is an antibiotic that works on infectious microorganisms. There are also ways to eliminate risk factors from your cat s environment. The general dosage is 7 to 15 mg of the medication per pound of body weight. Coccidia belong to a group of single celled parasites called protozoan.

We started using it about 3 or 4 years ago and that translates to about 3500 cats hard to guess the percentage of those. Unfortunately researchers did not identify an effective single dose treatment. The medication is available in tablet and injection form. Ponazuril and toltrazuril both actually being farm animal products that can be compounded into concentrations more appropriate for dogs and cats.

In dogs and cats sulfa based antibiotics are the most commonly used coccidiostats. In my experience it wipes coccidia. If still infected treatment should be repeated. Coccidia infections are relatively common in puppies and kittens and affected pets usually present with diarrhea.

Toxoplasma infections are considered particularly serious because of the potential for transmission from the pet to humans.